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October 2017

Foreign house sales in Turkey up by three-quarters

Published: Tuesday 31 October 2017

Foreign property sales in Turkey have jumped by more than three quarters in the last year.

In September 2017, there were 2,236 houses sold to foreigners, a rise of 75.2% year-on-year, according to the latest figures from Turkstat, the Turkish Statistical Institute.

The Turkish real estate market was buoyant with 140,298 home sales in total in September, up 28.8% on a year earlier. The figures were boosted by strong sales campaigns.

David Johnson, Halo Financial’s founding director, says, “If sales continue on this level until December, it is likely to be a record year for Turkish overseas property sales, which could reach 1.5 million, up 0.2 million on 2016’s high.

“The Turkish Lira recently passed a nine-month high against the US dollar of 3.84 and it is currently around 3.78, above September’s average level of about 3.47.

“However, the Turkish economy minister says that fluctuations in the Turkish Lira’s value against the dollar are more indicative of speculation than the actual strength of the Turkish economy.”

Istanbul had the highest share of house sales in September 2017 at 23 471 (16.7%). The capital, Ankara, was next with 13 945 house sales (9.9%) and the western city of Izmir third on 7,575 (5.4%).

Istanbul was also the most popular destination for foreign buyers with 797 sales. The Mediterranean resort of Antalya was second with 520 house sales and the southwestern city of Aydin, the large northwestern city of Bursa and the Black Sea northeastern city of Trabzon each had 119 house sales.

In 2016, there were 18,189 homes sold to foreigners. For the first nine months of 2017, the figure has reached 15,241, according to TurkStat and industry experts predict it will also reach a record high by the end of the year.

The leading foreign buyers in September 2017 were Iraqi, responsible for 383 sales (17%) in September. Saudi Arabians accounted for 344 house sales (15%), Kuwaitis on 160 (7%), and Russians with 129 (5%). The United Kingdom (4.6%) with 103 house sales, rounds off the top five.

In total, there were 70,019 first sales across Turkey, an annual rise of 37.4%, and a similar total of resales at 70 279, a yearly increase of 21.3%.